


some bad laughs, some nice friends

by jingsino



Series: issa good time [1]
Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Ambiguous-Gender Frisk, Bad Jokes, Bad Puns, Friendship, Gen, Gender-Neutral Frisk, Hanging Out, Pacifist Route, Platonic Relationships, just some skelebros, of course the frisk/papyrus goes nowhere but its the thought that counts, or if you wanna interpret it as romantic go ahead
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-06
Updated: 2015-11-06
Packaged: 2018-04-30 08:23:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,818
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5156870
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jingsino/pseuds/jingsino
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>aka: Snowdin and Chill</p><p>Frisk goes on a date. Frisk fails said date. Frisk goes on another date(?).</p>
            </blockquote>





	some bad laughs, some nice friends

**Author's Note:**

> have ANOTHER ONE. there's bad skelepuns in this one too.

“ _Human_.”

Papyrus cast a longing gaze toward his racecar bed. He turned back to Frisk with an intense flame in his eyes, one they hadn't seen even during their battle. They eyed him suspiciously.

“It's clear now...!” The skeleton held his hand over his chest dramatically and tore his eyes away from them. “You're madly in love with me,” he declared.

Frisk coughed and played with the sleeves of their striped shirt. What could they say to that? Just as they opened their mouth to respond, Papyrus clenched his hands into tight fists and continued.

“Everything you do, everything you say—it's all been for my sake.” He squared his body and dropped his arms to his sides. “Human.”

Frisk looked up.

“I want you to be happy, too."

They stared expectantly.

He inhaled deeply and began to whisper as softly as he could, which wasn't very soft at all, but it was the effort that mattered. “It's time for me to express my feelings. It's time that I told you...” He cleared his throat and tried to continue at the same time. “I-I, Papyrus...”

Frisk was sure they were gaping at this point. They felt for their jaw. Yeah. How did they get even get here? Who let this happen? They looked up at the ceiling accusingly.

“I...um...”

How long had they known Papyrus? Less than a day? Were they taking it too fast? How would everyone react? Were humans and monsters compatible at all? Did they even like Papyrus at all, or...?

“Boy, is it hot in here, or it just me?” A dry laugh that sounded more like a grunt rattled Papyrus' bones.

Frisk's eyes focused on him again. They became aware of a profound warmth spreading from the back of their head. Maybe it was just the heat of the moment.

“...”

They found themself retracing the 'COOL DUDE' stitched across Papyrus' shirt with their eyes, unable to even meet the other's gaze. Gosh. This was just embarrassing. This was worse than when they called Toriel mom, then decided it was a great idea to start hitting on her. Frisk paused, then backtracked on that thought. The whole Toriel mom flirting situation was _the_ low point in their life, for sure.

“Oh, shoot. Human, I...I'm sorry.” Papyrus snapped his fingers and settled for an apologetic smile. “I don't like you the way you like me.”

Could they just let him down gently? So his heart wouldn't break? Figuratively?

“Er, human, did you hear me?” A bony finger tipped their chin up. “Human, I don't like you,” he repeated.

Wait.

_What._

Frisk choked and hacked out a lung recovering from his words.

He began to shudder, the plate of spaghetti clattering ominously across his skull somehow. “Romantically, I mean,” he rambled. His eyes suddenly appeared and bugged out again, some weird monster biology magic that Frisk just didn't want to know about. “I mean, I tried very hard to! I thought that because you flirted with me...”

Frisk thought back and groaned, vaguely remembering saying something about Papyrus introducing them to where he put his bones away. They were filled with REGRET.

“...that I was supposed to go on a date with you.” Papyrus' shifty eyes suddenly centered on Frisk again. “Then, on the date, feelings would blossom forth!” Strangely enough, he began to blush, and shyly said, “I would be able to match your passion for me!” The skeleton gripped the front of his shirt so tight his knuckles were white, which meant nothing because his knuckles were always white. “But alas, I, the Great Papyrus...” he exhaled sadly and shrugged. “...have failed.”

Was that Frisk's little red SOUL breaking just a bit? They didn't know if they felt worse for themself or the monster rejecting them.

“I feel just the same as before,” he confessed. “And instead, by dating you...” He took the human's hand and held it tenderly. “I have only drawn you deeper into your intense love for me!” His other hand went to his forehead in a gesture of sorrow. “A dark prison of passion, with no escape. How could I have done this to my dear _friend_?”

Frisk felt an odd mixture of relief and offense mingling within their stomach. Papyrus set his sad eyes on them again, further pulling them into the unending abyss known as the 'friend zone.' They sighed and, with a gentle smile, said, "P—"

“NO! WAIT! THAT'S WRONG!” he screeched. Frisk winced and jerked their hands away. “I can't fail at anything!”

His words sent a shock of fear through their SOUL. They began to shake their head vigorously, already wary of whatever was to come.

“Human! I'll help you through these trying times!”

Frisk held out the palms of their hands in an attempt to wordlessly placate the skeleton. Instead, Papyrus eagerly grabbed onto them, fingers intertwined. In a friendly way, of course.

“I'll keep being your cool friend,” he offered, “and act like this never happened. After all, you are very great. It would be tragic to lose your friendship.” Just as the human exhaled and relaxed their tense muscles, Papyrus cupped their face like a friend would—platonically.

“Don't cry because I won't kiss you! Because I don't even have lips! Aha! Ha.” His assurances were hollow, as he seemed to be distraught over his lack of labia oris. “And hey, someday, you'll find someone as great as me,” he tried kindly, although he narrowed his eyes and corrected his statement. “Well, no, that's not true. But I'll help you settle for second best! Nyeh heh heh heh! Heh! Heh heh!”

Frisk's eyes screwed shut as they contemplated the events of the day. It was ridiculous, this entire world of monsters, but... A smile inched across their face. They were quickly growing fond of all its quirky inhabitants, who were actually incredibly dorky and silly outside of their attempts at battle. They opened their eyes and grinned widely at Papyrus, whose cackling had subsided.

Papyrus was now squinting at the human, the lights in his sockets appearing, albeit dimly, for a moment. They suddenly disappeared, replaced by the comical eyes Frisk still couldn't quite wrap their mind around. Their grin faltered.

“How did I not think of this before?!” he demanded of himself. He promptly scooped Frisk into their arms and secured them across his shoulder, muttering, “Second best,” under his breath.

In the back of their mind, they wondered how a skeleton was strong enough to effortlessly lift a twelve year old, but summed it all to monster muscle magic in favor of stressing over the current predicament they were in. It seemed that this date wasn't over just yet.

Papyrus charged out of his room and into the living room, where the television set was blaring white noise. From atop his shoulder, Frisk cherished the feeling of finally being tall until all motion abruptly stopped. They peered down and saw an equally puzzled Sans leaning against the cushions of the couch. He scooched over. Frisk was lowered them backwards onto the empty spot next to the shorter brother, whose eyes were glowing brightly with amusement.

“HAVE FUN, HUMAN! SANS!” Papyrus called as he marched out the door.

Frisk eyed the green back of the couch blankly. From the corners of their vision, Sans held his hands up helplessly. Not even a minute later, the door swung open.

“Oh, and if you ever need to reach me, here's my phone number!” Papyrus quickly scrawled something across a piece of paper and placed it onto the table by the entrance. “You can call me anytime,” he said fondly.

The human's lips twitched upward.

“Platonically.”

Well. At least he appreciated their friendship. Not that they needed anymore reminding that they failed to successfully date a skeleton, but they'd take it, nonetheless.

“Well, gotta go!” The door slammed again, although Papyrus' signature laughter could still be heard, likely resounding throughout Snowdin.

Cold air drifted from the door and across Frisk's skin. They shivered and rubbed their palms together, the pitiful darting of their eyes imploring Sans to do _something_ to help them. He wasn't quite ready to let them borrow his jacket just yet, but he would help. Sans wasn't a cruel man. In fact, Sans was a skeleton.

“kid, wanna chill?” he cracked, noting the goosebumps on their ankles as they curled up into a ball.

Frisk glared weakly, although a quiet laugh did escape from between their lips.

He held up a single finger and shuffed up to his room. They waited patiently with their head resting against the armrest, tilted to watch the grainy screen. Either monsters had little to no preconception of entertainment, or Sans was too lazy to process any show. When they rolled over, he had returned to his spot with a crumpled blanket in his hands. It was strange that they hadn't noticed him coming back at all, and while Frisk kept this in mind, they were far too spent out from the day to think on it. Sans was a mystery for another time.

“so, buddy.”

Or not.

“you dating my bro?”

Frisk's brows furrowed as they faced him. They somehow managed to lift only one at the same time. Sans wished for a split second he had eyebrows to do that, then remembered that anything was possible with magic, which humans did not have. Sucked for them. He mirrored their expression, plus his ever-present grin.

“...so.”

The human shook their head.

“ah. that's too bad.” He handed them the blanket. “have a consolation prize.”

They accepted it gratefully and wrapped it around their form. Sans thought they kind of resembled a croissant, the way they tucked their legs closer to their torso. Illegal croissant stand? Nah, the spiders handled baked goods. Hot dog croissants, though... He filed the idea away for later.

The silence that settled between them wasn't so much uncomfortable as it was unfamiliar. Neither of them knew the other very well, although Sans did have his suspicions there was more to them than what met the eye. But, he made a promise, and nothing the human did gave him reason to break that promise. Really, it was more the opposite. They avoided violent confrontations (one point), giggled at his jokes (another point), and even went out of their way to humor Papyrus' hunt for humans (at least six points).

Speaking of humor, he knew just the way to break the ice.

“so, kid.” Said kid cocked their head. “you wanna snow and tell me how you got here?”

Their head perked up. In a completely straight face, they confessed, “It's snow joke.”

He really liked this kid (two points, and a half).

Sans leaned forward. “oh, really? that's too bad. did you at least have an ice time with papyrus?” Wasn't his best, but oh well. He tried again. “did you make it into the bone zone?”

Frisk's nose scrunched up. Oops. Forgot they were, like, nine, or something. They started snickering though. Maybe ten? They looked it, judging by height, but Sans quickly remembered that height wasn't the best way to determine age.

“sorry, kid. you ain't ready for those kinda ribs yet. we're starting with the humerus, got it?”

They puckered their lips to the side, pondering what he meant, before giving up and shaking their head.

Sans sighed. They had a knack for jokes, but they were clearly not formally educated on the finer aspects of such a sophisticated topic. He cracked his knuckles. A mostly clean slate was the perfect place to start. Pointing to his upper arm, he began the lesson. “humerus bone. i tell humorous jokes. papyrus eats spaghetti.”

Frisk nodded.

“you know, papyrus is already pretty cool,” he murmured, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. “out there, in this type of weather? he's bound to get even cooler.”

“Maybe.” They shifted to face Sans, who was eagerly awaiting their response.“But if he hears that one, he'll lose his cool.”

Sans hummed, thoroughly impressed with their banter so far. “was that on the spot? good job.”

Frisk beamed with pride. While they certainly enjoyed spending time with Papyrus, it was almost tiring to keep up with him at a certain point, not to mention their inability to finish a complete sentence when the older skeleton was constantly yelling. After the rollercoaster that was their date, it was relaxing to just sit down and have some bad laughs.

Sans fixed them with a dull look. “i think we should stop.”

They made a weird sound in their throat.“Huh? What? Why?”

The monster winked, quick to reassure them. “he might be _skull_ king around.”

After the terrifying scare of not being able to tell anymore jokes with their newfound friend, everything seemed ten times funnier than before. Frisk's laughter was like the swell of a wave before it crashed onto the shore, like the peak of the sun he never saw, like the apex of a mountain unclimbed. Their SOUL seemed to radiate with a happiness that did not recede when it retreated back in their chest. Rather, it remained vibrant, nurtured by a loving heart.

Sans silently thanked the lady behind the door.

Frisk burrowed deeper into the cocoon of blankets. “Psst.”

“hm?”

“Is this a date?”

“...kid...either you're telling a really weird joke or i'm better at romance than i thought.”

“Papyrus said he'd help me settle for second best.”

That was oddly endearing enough to Sans that he shut up and sighed. Oh, _brother_. By this point, the human had already been completely wrapped in the blanket. The only part that was peaking out was their eyes. ' _Sausage roll_ ' popped into Sans' mind, and he suppressed the urge to smirk. He could hear the whistle of their breaths, the rubbing of cloth against cloth, and the white noise of the television in the background.

“Sooo?” they drew out, scrutinizing Sans with squinted eyes.

“papyrus is sometimes right,” he said with a shrug. “might as well be one.” He winked at them. They tried to return the gesture, although it looked more like their eyelids were twitching. “you'll get better, kid.” He ruffled their hair, effectively lifting them from their dismay over not being able to wink.

Frisk still fixed him with a deliberate stare. “So was this a successful date?”

“maybe.” Seeing their inquiries wouldn't be abated with such a brief response, he continued, “although it wasn't really a proper one.” He paused. “did papyrus go by that dating manual?”

They nodded.

“well i'm going by a different one. all we need is some bad laughs and some good food, and we got the bad laughs down so far.”

“Food?” They exposed their face to yawn. Were they salivating? Eh, whatever. His blanket had been through worse. He remembered pestering Papyrus to drink ketchup with him, then Papyrus throwing ketchup up on him. Yikes.

“yeah. but tomorrow.”

Almost immediately, they stifled their yawn. He chuckled.

“go to sleep, buddy. i'll see you tomorrow.”

They didn't respond. Had it not been for their strangely quiet breathing, he would have thought they really were asleep. Just as he turned off the television and pushed himself off the couch, a squeak of protest sounded.

“S-Sans?”

“yeah?”

Frisk pursed their lips and closed their eyes, the cogs turning in their head. They opened them with a mischievous glint.

“Why did the skeleton want a friend?”

His brows drew together. This one sounded familiar.

“Because he was feeling _BONELY_.” They tried to muffle their giggles with blanket, but the joy was clear in their eyes.

He remembered telling that joke to the lady behind the door. He closed his eyes and grinned at the memory. Now that he thought about it, the kid and her kind of laughed the same...Sans looked down at Frisk, who awaited a response with mirth in their eyes.

“you got a good taste in jokes, kid. makes me proud to be your friend.”

Frisk beamed at the word. “We're _friends_?”

“duh.” He rolled his eyes. “don't you want some nice friends?”

“Yes!” they agreed, then calmed themself enough to sullenly say, “I guess you'll do.”

Sans scoffed. “friendship isn't a joke,” he scolded, then clicked his teeth together. “just kidding.”

Frisk huffed and reached out for his hand. Sans allowed them to hold it, watching bemusedly from above. They marveled at the structure of his bones and traced over his wrist. Did all humans have a warm touch, or was that just the human? Under their breath, he thought he heard a whispered, “Thanks, Sans.”

“for what?”

They rolled over and snuggled deeper into the cushions. Maybe he just imagined it.

“welp." He felt the overwhelming urge to muss their hair again. "you're okay, kid. night.”

From beneath the covers, Frisk smiled to themself. Their new friendships filled them with DETERMINATION.

 


End file.
